Since January of 2008, this nationally recognized blog has been dedicated to following the very latest news regarding presidential pardons and the pardon power (or clemency powers) as exercised in each state. Reader comments are certainly welcomed but a premium will be placed on civility, relevance and originality. Please refrain from extended copying and pasting.

TERMS TO KNOW

AMNESTY - A general or group pardon that is usually granted before conviction. This power is most commonly associated with post-war clemency, for draft evasion, sedition or other violations of selective service laws. Amnesties may or may not be conditional

CLEMENCY - At the federal level, this is a broad term which is interpreted to include all of the other terms defined in this section. Sometimes, "clemency" is described as "the pardon power," which is acceptable, so long as it is understood that, formally speaking, a pardon is one of several forms of clemency. Clemency powers can be found in all three branches of the federal government (executive, legislative and judicial). At the state level, "clemency" is sometimes meant to be synonymous with "commutation." Thus "clemency" is used to release indivduals from prison. "Pardons" in such states are used to restore the civil rights of those who have already served their time.

COMMUTATION - A reduction in the severity of a punishment that is commonly confused with a pardon. Commutations reduce the length of a sentence or the amount of a fine. Perhaps the most high-profile commutations are those that change a death sentence to life in prison, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Commutations can be controversial if the "reduction" is, arguably, not a reduction. Imagine a 2-year sentence being commuted to a $900,000 fine. Is that really a reduction in the severity of the punishment? Commutations can have conditions attached. Supreme Court decisions appear to suggest that commutations of sentence cannot be refused. Although there was a time when commutations were granted more frequently than pardons, they are very rarely granted today.

EXPUNGEMENT - Each state is free to define expungement as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of expungement. See also "sealing" (below)

PARDON - The removal of all disability or punishment. Pardons may be granted before or after conviction. Today, they are usually granted in order to restore civil rights (the right to vote, hold public office, participate in a jury, own a firearm, etc.). Pardons can have conditions attached. There has been a steady decline in the granting of pardons since 1900 whether one looks at the raw number of pardons, the percentage of applications that result in pardons or the percentage of presidential clemency decisions which result in pardons. There has, however, been a more accelerated decline since the late 1960s.

REMISSION - Most often, remissions were devices used to remove fines and forfeitures. In some instances, however, the word remit was used to simply remove (as opposed to reducing) a portion of a sentence. Today, federal clemency statistics do not even count remissions as a separate category of clemency decisions.

REPRIEVE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Sometimes used as a synonym for "stay." See Respite, below.

RESPITE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Typically, respites are granted for a specific number of days (30 to 60) but they have often been followed by additional respites and have also been granted in an entirely open-ended fashion (as in, "We will get back to you, when we can."). Today, the word "reprieve" is more likely to be used for an act of clemency that delays punishment.

SEALING - Each state is free to define sealing as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of sealing. See also "expungement" (above).

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Palm Beach Post has some intriguing coverage of the story of one Desmond Meade, a law school student at the Florida International University who was homeless just five or six years ago. Although he was once convicted of aggravated battery and possession of a firearm, Meade is now president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, a group which aims to have the State's Board of Executive Clemency "simplify" (and speed up) the application process. The group estimates a current backlog of 100,000 applications!

The Board consists of Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and has recently changed the rules so that felons convicted of nonviolent crimes must wait five years before applying for clemency. Those who have committed violent crimes must wait seven years and those seeking restoration of gun rights must wait eight years. Pardon applicants must now wait an entire decade! See story here.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

The State of Florida Dept of Parole and Pardons is a joke. I filed my application in Dec 2007. Got a reply from the Dept of Parole and Pardons on May 2nd 2011 that the application is being returned do to a missing court paper. They then went on to explain where the Document was located at and the document #. I was told to get this document and to refile my application again. This is just stupid. All they had to do is call the Court House Clerk and have them send them a certificated copy direct to them. So I waited 20 years to submit a application for a full pardon. Then I wait another 3 or so years for the application to be looked at and mailed back. Here is the deal Florida. Your Pardon and Parole process sucks! I could care less now. Good luck to you all in the State of Florida. You got a mess on your hands.